Agitator



Nov. 8, 1960 .1. CARTWRIGHT AGITATOR Filed Nov, 8 19 a/d/Tuw UnitedStates Patent AGITATOR Jessie Cartwright, Chicago, Ill., assignor toBorg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois FiledNov. 8, 1954, Ser. No. 467,540

1 Claim. (Cl. 68-134) This invention relates to washing machines andmore particularly to washing machines equipped with a device forrippling or imparting a gentle activation to washing fluid containedtherein. The invention further relates to the art of washing finefabrics such as woolens, cashmeres and the like in a conventionalautomatic washing machine.

An automatic washing machine having an agitator of the conventional typehas never proved satisfactory for washing woolens, cashmeres and similarfabrics. Invariably such materials become matted and felted or shrinkduring the washing cycle. At one time it was believed that theundesirable results noted above were due to improper temperatures of thewashing fluid. Recent work directed to determining the cause of feltingand shrinking occurring in the course of washing fine woolensautomatically has revealed that the matting and shrinking are directlyattributable to the agitation of the fabrics.

In order to overcome the problem certain manu- 'facturers of automaticwashers have recommended that woolen articles be washed by soaking andagitating alternately. This procedure involves soaking woolens for a'brief interval and thereafter operating the conventional agitator typewashing device for a short interval in the hopes that a slight currentof washing fluid will flow through the woolens, thereby extracting soilmaterial without appreciably agitating the clothes. This method ofwashing requires constant machine attention and does not overcome theshrinking or matting problem even when the agitator is operated forextremely short intervals because an inherent function of the agitatoris that of physically moving the material being washed in addition tomoving the washing fluid.

It has been determined that by removing the agitator [from a washingmachine and replacing it with a device designed to generate a ripplingor slight activation of the washing fluid without imparting motion tothe articles being washed, the shrinking, matting and felting of woolenfabrics can be substantially overcome.

Accordingly it is an important object of this invention to provide ameans for activating washing fluid contained in the washing receptacleof an automatic washing machine without agitating or otherwisephysically moving the material being washed.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a means forgenerating a rippling or slight fluid current through fabrics withoutagitating the fabrics.

A washing machine illustrating certain features of the present inventionmay comprise a basket for receiving washing fluid and material to bewashed, means including a vertical shaft disposed inside the tub andadapted to be oscillated about its vertical axis and a hollowcylindrical sleeve rigidly mounted to the shaft, said cylindrical sleevehaving a plurality of radially extended fins integral therewith, andsaid fins having a configuration which defines a bead extending the fulllength of the sleeve and "ice blending into a circular segmentintermediate the ends thereof for gently rippling the washing fluid.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent from the following specification when read in conjunction withthe drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a vertical section of a washing machine embodying thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, slightly enlarged, of a portion of Fig. 1and taken along the line 22 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 2.

Referring now to Fig. 1 there is shown a basket 10 rotatably mounted andhaving an arcuate bottom wall 11. The wall 11 represents the upperportion of a gear casing indicated generally at 12 whose bottom portion13 acts to support the basket 10 for rotation in the manner disclosed ina co-pending application of Andrew H. Gerhardt and Edward J. Frey, S.N.246,604, filed September 14, 1951, now Patent 2,807,951. Secured to theupper portion 11 of the gear casing 12 is a sleeve 14 (Fig. 2) having abearing 16 for supporting the upper end of a shaft 17. The referencenumeral 18 designates a seal for preventing the flow of washing fluidinto the interior of the sleeve 14. Disposed within the gear casing 12are means for oscillating the shaft 17 about its vertical axis in amanner similar to that shown in said co-pending application. In wedgingengagement with the upper end of the shaft 17 and rotatable therewith isa bushing 19. The bushing 19 is held in place by means of a double-endedstud 21. The periphery of the bushing 19 is hexagonal in cross-sectionand acts as a support for a water current inducing device or agitator22. v

The present invention is not particularly directed to the preciseconstruction of the washing machine and its related parts, consequentlyit is deemed sufficient to show and describe only those portions thereofadjacent to and cooperating with the agitator. It is to be understoodthat the details of construction of the washing machine with which theagitator may be employed may assume a wide variety of arrangements and Ido not desire to be limited to the particular washing machine disclosedexcept where the construction thereof relates to the contemplatedinvention.

The internal contour of the agitating device at the upper end thereof ishexagonal as at 23 so as to complement the hexagonal bushing 19. A cap24 in threaded engagement with the upper end of the stud 21 is utilizedto hold the agitator 22 in engagement with the bushing 19.

It is apparent therefore that the agitator 22 will rotate with the shaft17 and is readily removable from the bushing 19. Accordingly, anagitator such as is disclosed in said co-pending application may bereadily replaced with the rippler 22 of the present invention wheneverit is desired to wash fine woolen fabrics.

Having thus described, by way of example, a possibleadaptation of theagitator and a washing machine and having set out generally theenvironment of the adaptation, the specific construction of the agitatorwhich constitutes the present invention will now be described in detail.

Referring now to the exemplary embodiment of the in.- vention shown inFig. 2, it is to be noted that the agitator may be fabricated from anon-metallic material such as a thermoplastic or a thermosetting resincompound or hard rubber and may be of laminate or other reinforcedstructure.

The agitator has a long cylindrical body portion 26 having a relativelythin wall and expanding radially at the bottom end thereof into abell-mouthed or bell shaped portion 27. Formed integrally with the bodyportion 26 and spaced substantially at right angles to one another arefour beads 28. The beads 28 extend the full length of the body portion26 and blend into circular small blades or vanes 29 intermediate theends of the beads.

When the agitator 22 is oscillated by the means disclosed in saidco-pending application, the blades 29 act to gently activate the washingfluid by creating fluid currents in the upper regions of the washingdevice while the beads 28 tend to encourage a very slight current in thelower regions of the device Without disturbing the woolen fabrics beingwashed. The bell-mouthed portion 27 of the agitator is sufficientlyforeshortened so as not to carry or physically move the woolens beingwashed. It is noted that there is suflicient area in the outer portionsof the wash basket 10 to permit the material being washed to liemotionless. The blades 29 of the agitator also function to activate orsuds detergent or other soil loosening agent. Accordingly, the fluidlevel within the basket 10 is maintained just above the blades 29 forthis purpose.

It has been establshed that soil matter can be readily loosened fromwoolens by soaking the materials in washing fluid, but it is necessaryto create a gentle current or ripples in the wash fluid in order toremove the soil particles from the woolens after being loosened. Asstated before, the currents generated must be sufiiciently restrained toavoid agitating the woolen materials. It has been found thatsatisfactory results are obtained using an agitator having asubstantially smooth outer surface at the lower end thereof, thefriction between the Washing fluid and the agitator being sufficient todevelop a very light fluid current thereabout.

Various arrangements and dispositions of the bead structure may bedevised without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. For example, the head 28 may be spiralled about the bodyportion or it may be discontinuous or it may be both spiralled anddiscontinuous having a single or double lead.

A specific embodiment of the invention and one with which particularlysatisfactory results may be obtained may take the form of the agitatorshown in the drawings where the bead height is 5 of one inchmeasuredradially from the body portion 26 of the agitator.

It is anticipated that various other arrangements of the presentinvention may be devised without departing from the spirit and scopethereof.

What is claimed is:

An automatic clothes washing machine comprising a clothes and waterreceiving basket of substantially cylindrical shape and having a bottomtherein, a drive shaft extending upwardly through the bottom of thebasket at the center thereof, an agitator comprising a long cylindricalbody enveloping said shaft and connected thereto, said-body terminatingat its bottom in a bell-shaped portion, a plurality of relatively smallblades in the form of circular segments extending outwardly from saidbody intermediate the ends thereof and above said bell-shaped portionwith the opposite ends of said blades merging with said cylindrical bodyin spaced planes intersecting the axis of said body, said blades beingpositioned immediately below the water level of the basket, the portionof the body below said blades and including said bell-shaped portionhaving a plurality of substantially fiat beads thereon and merging withthe ends of said blades, said beads functioning to provide fluidcurrents in the lower regions of the water in said basket withoutimparting any motion to the clothes in said basket, said small bladesproviding fluid currents in the upper regions of the water in saidbasket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS870,865 Brownlee Nov. 12, 1907 1,724,594 Huntington Aug. 13, 19291,746,250 Getz Feb. 11, 1930 1,795,395 Hoke Mar. 10, 1931 1,955,403Barker Apr. 17, 1934 2,038,058 Pryor Apr. 21, 1936 2,149,987 AltorferMar. 7, 1939 2,199,027 Little Apr. 30, 1940 2,363,184 Jacobs Nov. 21,1944 2,688,241 Stevenson Sept. 7, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT errieECERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent Nod 2,95%045 November 8 1960 JessieCartwright,

' It is herebfi eertified that error appears in the-printedspecification e5? she ebovemumb-ered patent requiring correction andthat the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 2 line 32,, after 22" and before the period insert; M with whichthe invention is particularly concerned line 53. for "rippler" read Magitator D Signed and sealed this 25th day of April 1961,

(SEAL) Arrest:

ERNEST W0 SWIDER. DAVID Lg LADD Aireeiing Oflicer Commissioner of?aients

